Capital One to buy back up to $1B in shares

Capital One Financial to buy back up to $1B in stock after closing Best Buy credit card sale

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) -- Capital One Financial Corp. said Tuesday that it will buy back up to $1 billion of its common stock after completing the sale of its Best Buy-brand credit card accounts.

Citigroup Inc. is buying the portfolio, which had loan balances of approximately $7 billion. The companies have not released financial details of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of September.

The McLean, Va., company said the Federal Reserve approved its stock buybacks, if the deal goes through, through March 2014.

Buybacks can make shareholders' existing holdings more valuable, offset the effect of paying employees in stock and options, and boost earnings per share.